黑死病基因组测序的科学家

The black plague， or black death as it大发’；s also referenced， is a deadly infectious disease which killed off more than a third of Europe’；s population during the middle ages。 The bacteria responsible for the disease has been confirmed by genetic scientists as Yersinia pestis， and recently， building off the research which found this particular strain， German scientists have successfully sequenced the entire genome of the bacteria。 According to their study， the bacteria responsible for one of the most devastating pandemics in human history has little changed in the past 600 years。

Through their remarkable research， German， Canadian and American scientists have managed to reconstruct for the first time the genetic structure of a pathogen older than 100 years， which will now allow them to track changes in the disease’；s evolution and virulence， offering at the same time a better understanding of modern infectious diseases。

“；The genomic data show that this bacterial strain， or variant， is the ancestor of all modern plagues we have today worldwide。 Every outbreak across the globe today stems from a descendant of the medieval plague，”； said Hendrik Poinar， of Canada’；s McMaster University， who worked with the team。

“；With a better understanding of the evolution of this deadly pathogen， we are entering a new era of research into infectious disease。”；

For their rearch， the time escavated skeletons from London’；s East Smithfield “；plague pits”；， a common burial ground home to the final resting place of thousands of people struck by the black plague。 Eventually， they found promising specimens and subsequently proceeded in extracting， purifying and enriching specifically for the pathogen’；s DNA from the dental pulp of five bodies。 Linking the 1349 to 1350 dates of the skeletal remains to the genetic data allowed the researchers to calculate the age of the ancestor of Y。 pestis that caused the mediaeval plague。